grrlscientist | September 8, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 5979 - 1884 - 1775 - 1231 - 1212 out of 579 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 4 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The…
grrlscientist | September 8, 2009tags: travel, nature, environment, cities, Munkkivuori, Helsinki, Finland
Gifts of chocolate and licorice from my host.
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Ah, the breakfast of champions: licorice and chocolate. Well, and coffee (not pictured, but you get the idea).
My host finally awoke (I had been awake for hours, watching birds, playing on my laptop, and torturing the cat) and he gave me a meal consisting of licorice, chocolate and coffee. Dessert was a bowl of yogurt topped with muesli. A perfect way to start the day in beautiful Helsinki.
After a relaxing…
grrlscientist | September 8, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Common Burdock (Thistle), Arctium pubens, blossoms.
Photographed at the gardens at the Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 8, 2009tags: South Pacific Islands, Indonesia, Sumatra, geology, nature, volcano, global warming, Lake Toba, PBS, NOVA, television
Sixty-two-mile-long Lake Toba, seen in the center of this satellite image,
was created by the largest explosive volcanic eruption of the past
100,000 years -- an eruption whose aftermath holds important clues for us
today about rapid climate change, Drew Shindell says.
Image: NASA.
Wow, there are days when I wish I had a television, and today is one of them. Why? Tonight, PBS is showing a really fascinating program; a NOVA show entitled Mystery of the Megavolcano that…
grrlscientist | September 8, 2009Since I have recently developed quite a history of visiting cold and snowy places, often during the winter, I wish to preserve that tradition. I am competing for the opportunity to go to Antarctica in February 2010 -- a dream adventure that I've always wanted to pursue (and almost did pursue when I was an undergraduate researching Fin Whales and Crabeater Seals at the University of Washington). To enter, all candidates must publish a picture of themselves and write an essay explaining why we think we are the best choice, and solicit votes from the public. Whomever receives the most votes wins…
grrlscientist | September 8, 2009tags: Speckled Pigeon, Columba guinea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Speckled Pigeon, Columba guinea, photographed drinking at the Lake Manyara Serena Lodge swimming pool, in Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 8 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, Nikon 200-400 VR lens at 400. ISO 800. F/4.5 1/160.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | September 8, 2009tags: nature, birds, gannet, Morus serrator, technology, BBC, streaming video
Steve Leonard and a group of conservationists attach tiny gadgets to the feathers of a Gannet, Morus serrator, to learn how they eat and fly out in the deep oceans. Great short video from BBC wildlife show Animal Camera.
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009tags: horses, equus, biology, photography, books, Tim Flach, streaming video
This video is a slideshow of stunning photography that is narrated by photographer Tim Flach showing photos from his book Equus which was published on 1 October 2008.
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 5942 - 1858 - 1751 - 1229 - 1160 out of 575 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 4 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The…
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009Everyone loves free books, right? Well, I know I do, and since I've got a huge stack of books in my apartment that are seeking a loving home, I want to share them with you. These books are duplicates of review copies, advance reading copies and uncorrected proofs as well as some books that I purchased or somehow obtained. All books are in excellent (like new) shape, unless otherwise noted. I am offering them to you several times per week for the next few months, free of charge, although I will ask you to pay the cost of the shipping envelope and postage for mailing each book to you. Below the…
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.
What: NYC Cricket Crawl (counting 7 species of crickets and katydids in NYC)
Where: New York City area
When: Friday, 11 September 2009 at 7:…
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009
Who: Eric Maisel, PhD
What: free public presentation, "Living Well Without Gods"
Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map] 273 Bowery (Bowery & Houston) [map]
When: 730pm, Thursday, 17 September
Eric Maisel, PhD, is the author of more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction. His latest book is The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods, in which he discusses how to find rich personal meaning in life despite the absence of beneficent gods and the indifference of the universe to human concerns.
In his book, Maisel addresses atheists who don't always…
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009tags: flowers, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Poppy blossom.
Photographed at the gardens at the Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I am really pleased with this image and hope that you like it too.
Ripening poppy seedpod.
Photographed at the gardens at the Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009Today is Labor Day in the United States. This holiday is designed to honor those of us who are lucky enough to have employment -- you know, a job that actually pays a living wage. Today, we honor work by ... not working.
Most people in America view Labor Day weekend as the last weekend of summer, so those of us who can afford it usually indulge in a mini-vacation intended for rest, relaxation and partying. To help us along in this endeavor are many clothing store discount sales, new movie releases, college football games (often the first official game of the season), parades and fireworks…
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009
I receive a fair number of books to review each month, so I thought I should do what several magazines and other publications do; list those books that have arrived in my mailbox so you know that this is the pool of books from which I will be reading and reviewing on my blog.
Evolution by Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu (Author), Patrick Gries (Photographer), Linda Asher (Translator). Hardcover. Gift.
The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology) by Rachel P. Maines. Paperback. Gift.
The Pink Lady: The…
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009tags: Wilson's Plover, Charadrius wilsonia, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Wilson's Plover, Charadrius wilsonia, photographed at Brazoria Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 July 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009tags: science, research, postdoctoral fellowship, academic life, unemployment
[Reprise: originally published in 2004]
New York City (AP) - After an unsuccessful two-year-long search for funds to support two more years of research and living expenses, a scientist and freelance writer has offered to fund her research by selling access to her internationally televised death by electrocution and by auctioning all body parts on ebay.
GrrlScientist, an evolutionary biologist and ornithologist, uses DNA to research the evolution and historical geographic movements of parrots among the islands of…
grrlscientist | September 7, 2009tags: nature, mammals, Antarctica, humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, David Attenborough, streaming video
Faint disturbances in the heart of Antarctic waters gives way to breathtaking images of Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, hunting Krill in this fantastic video clip from BBC's natural history television masterpiece, Planet Earth. Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough.
grrlscientist | September 6, 2009tags: nature, natural selection, evolution, The Tree of Life, BBC One, David Attenborough, streaming video
This streaming video is a beautiful animated clip describing the Tree of Life. Evolution shows how life diverged into the myriad life forms that we see today, and that we know existed in eons past. "The Tree of Life" was part of Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life, which was broadcast on BBC1 on Sunday 1 February 2009. Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough (you lucky, Brits, I am so jealous). [Although, I am told you can supposedly download it for free]. If you can, watch this…
grrlscientist | September 6, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 5892 - 1846 - 1696 - 1224 - 1118 out of 571 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 4 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The…